Dumbledore Knows Best
by tandjsandwich
Summary: Upon returning to Hogwarts to finish their education, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are appointed to the positions of Head Boy and Girl. This brings bickering, awkward situations, outbursts, and even tears. But of course, Dumbledore knew what he was doing! Please review!
1. Chapter 1

The Head Girl of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry rapped three times on the office door of the Headmaster, and her foot tapped the floor impatiently as she waited to enter.

"Come in," came the light, airy voice of Professor Dumbledore. "What can I do for you Miss Granger?"

"Professor," Hermione's voice was commendably measured, considering the fiery rage that was currently licking the inside of her chest. "I won't burden you with my opinions concerning your choice of Head Boy, but I must implore you to please consider changing the current living accommodations of the Heads of the school!"

"Ah. When I chose Mr. Malfoy and yourself as Head Boy and Girl, I wondered which one of you I would be having this conversation with first!" said Dumbledore simply, seeming slightly amused.

As if Professor Dumbledore's statement had cued him, Draco Malfoy burst through the door without knocking. "Professor, I won't stand for this! Is this some sort of game to you? Punishment for my actions during the war? I've said I was sorry, I've come back to school, done everything you wanted! But this is mental! I won't live with that mud- oh, girl, habit- sorry!" he amended as Dumbledore pierced him with a harsh look. Draco opened his mouth to speak again, and Hermione could practically hear him say 'My father will hear about this!', but Draco shut his mouth again, obviously remembering that the threat was a bit outmoded these days.

Hermione let out an indignant cough, and Draco finally seemed to take in his surroundings. However, instead of looking mortified at the discovery of her presence, as Hermione thought that the pompous brat well should have, Draco seemed quite apathetic towards it. He simply said "Oh, hello, Granger," and inclined his head ever so slightly. His tone was cold, his action forced.

"Well I see you've beat me to it," Draco said conclusively. "So what are you going to do about this problem,_ Professor_?" He asked, in the same spoiled, self-important manner that he had questioned Hagrid about going into the Forbidden Forest all those years ago.

"Oh, young Draco, I do not intend to do anything about what you refer to as a 'problem'." Dumbledore answered mysteriously.

"Excuse me sir," Hermione said, nonplussed. "But you say that as if you _don't_ feel that Malfoy and I living in the same dorm will be a problem?"

Dumbledore smiled at the incredulous look on her face. "While I can see how your predicament could... ostensibly... be viewed as unfavorable, problematic, and possibly even slightly dangerous," his bright eyes twinkled at this, "I feel that your situation will prove to be quite the wonderful one indeed, in the long run, of course." He concluded, smiling in that unnerving way of his.

"Ostensibly? Wonderful?" Hermione sputtered shrilly. "You think this is _good_?"

"Yes, yes, my dear, I must say that I do." He said airily, dismissively.

"Well, that's just... preposterous!" Hermione fumed, and with that she turned on her heel, uttered a 'hmph', and stormed from the room, arms crossed tightly across her chest.

Draco looked at the Headmaster as if he were crazy, opened and closed his mouth a few times, and followed Hermione's indignant example.

As the door closed, Dumbledore smiled in a fond, knowing manner, and absently stroked the feathers of Fawkes the Phoenix, withdrawing his hand only to let the bird burst into flames.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's an awful situation really," said Hermione halfheartedly after a short silence between Harry, Ron, and herself. She was slouched over in a chair in the Gryffindor common room, looking rather defeated. She had rushed straight to the comfort of the familiar room and its friendly faces after her confrontation with the Headmaster. Now, sitting there in the aftermath of her heated tirade to her friends, Hermione realized that she still hadn't seen the dormitory that she was to share with Draco Malfoy at all.

"I suppose I should get going," she said with a grimace, coming out of her thoughts. Bidding them goodnight, she slipped out of the portrait hole and headed toward the fourth floor.

She found the gaudy tapestry easily enough, and proceeded to tap the dragon in the top right corner with her wand. Flames flew from his open mouth, magically moving against the stationery stitches. The heavy cloth swung aside, and Hermione stepped through the ornate archway and into her long awaited, yet now tainted, common room.

The room was a small, cozy square, and her eyes were instantly drawn to the large fire blazing in an ancient, ostentatious marble fireplace. The fire gave the room a warm glow that extended to each wall. A couch, an arm chair, a small coffee table, and two desks furnished the room. Just like the rest of the castle, almost every inch of stone wall was decorated with portraits and paintings. There was a small board on the opposite wall that displayed the class and patrol schedules of Hermione and Draco.

On either side of the fireplace, sets of stairs led to doors that Hermione knew must conceal the bedrooms of the Head Boy and Girl. Hoping that she was guessing which room was hers correctly, she started up the staircase to the left of the fire. At the top of the staircase, there was a door in front of her and another to her right. Upon opening the latter, Hermione found a full bathroom. As she was closing the door, she noticed an identical one straight across from it, and her eyes widened as she realized that this bathroom was to be _shared _by the Heads. She gulped and finished pulling the door shut.

To her relief, Hermione found that she had in fact chosen the correct staircase. Her belongings had been brought up, unpacked, and organized. Making a mental note to jot a quick thank you letter to the house elves, Hermione closed and locked her door. Her room was nothing special, housing a four poster bed, a night stand, and a wardrobe. Nonetheless, the space exerted the cozy and familiar feel that all of Hogwarts did. Smiling sadly, she concluded that the Heads dormitory would be quite charming, if only, she thought wistfully, she didn't have to share it with that supercilious prat.

Hermione changed into her dressing gown, blew out the candle on her night stand, and crawled into bed. After situating herself, she lay there for a moment, listening to the soft hoots of owls in the night and enjoying the faint smell of smoke that her extinguished candle was exerting. A smile graced her features against her will. Despite the events of this first evening back at Hogwarts, Hermione was undeniably happy to be back at this wonderful place, restored to its former glory, and to finally, _finally_, finish her education. As she drifted off to sleep, she mollified her fears by deciding that no slimy Slytherin ferret was going to ruin what she had worked for all throughout her schooling, and that she wouldn't let him bother her, even affect her at all. In fact, as far as Hermione Granger was concerned, she was the only inhabitant of this dormitory, thank you. However, these fierce and impassioned thoughts did not stop her from setting her alarm a little early on purpose, so as to avoid any chance of bathroom conflict.

**AN: I know these chapters are short but bear with me! Please review if you want more! :)  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione Granger walked once again through the archway that led into her and Draco Malfoys' shared common room. Her shoulder ached from her exploding bag, and her arms cradled several more tomes. Characteristically, Hermione was already riddled with homework, despite the fact that today had been the first official day of class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She faltered in her movements toward her desk. Biting her lip, she vacillated between the option of doing her schoolwork in the common room, or completing it in her bedroom, which, while it had no desk, was wonderfully Draco-free.

She shook her head rather rigorously, and slammed her books down onto her desk. He was already getting in her head! She couldn't let him stop her from completing her homework in a comfortable and organized way. Fuming, and slightly abashed, Hermione set about her Ancient Runes translation, mashing her quill into her parchment slightly harder than she normally would have done.

Hermione was almost done with her Charms essay when the tapestry swung back. Although the cloth made only a slight swishing sound, she jumped as if a door had slammed. She raised her hand to her accelerating heart, and sighed heavily when she saw the black streak that now marred her homework. She used her wand to siphon off the spilled ink, and pointedly avoided looking in the direction of Draco Malfoy. However, she peripherally saw him saunter lazily through the archway and head to the other desk in the room to deposit his bags. After this task was complete, Hermione heard his footsteps recommence, and, to her dismay, they seemed to be coming in her direction.

"Hello, Granger!" said Malfoy gratingly, in a tone that made it blatantly obvious that he was trying to annoy her. "Whatcha doing there?"

"Hello, Malfoy," replied Hermione through gritted teeth. She would not let him bother her. "Just finishing up some Charms homework," she said as she flashed him a broad, artificial smile. "Thanks for checking up on me," Hermione finished brusquely, and, in a cold manner that oozed finality, she turned back around in her chair and immediately began scratching away on her essay.

"Oh, come on Granger," drawled Malfoy, clearly unaffected by her patronizing. "Don't want to talk to me? But we haven't seen each other _all _summer," he sat down on top of her desk. "Don't you agree that we have _so_ much catching up to do?"

Hermione sighed. She could not, no matter what, let him get under her skin. She chewed absentmindedly on the end of her quill as she formulated a response, and finally reclined back in her chair, looked Draco straight in the eye and said scathingly, "Sure, Malfoy, I'd love to catch up. How're Mum and Dad, I've heard you all have been just _keen_ since the fall of the Dark Lord. I mean, heavens, didn't Dad even get a promotion? _Head _of the Department of Ministry Clean Up, what a thing to boast, Draco! You must be so _proud_ to be a Malfoy."

Draco's face fell, harboring not even a ghost of the smirk that had been there seconds before. He glared at her silently, incredulously for a moment. "Piss off," he started. "You're just a filthy little mud- UGH!" Hermione jumped a bit as he loudly groaned. She was confused for a minute, before remembering that Malfoy was attempting to kick the habit of using that particular curse word. For a second, she almost pitied him, so burdened with the task of restoring some dignity to his family that he wouldn't even call her names, provoked, in private. However, her empathy for him didn't last long, because he then took a different direction in insulting her.

"Look, Granger, just because I don't care about blood status anymore doesn't mean that you, individually, are any better in my eyes. Muggle-born or not, you're still an ugly little bookworm that wouldn't know how to have a good time if your life depended on it. You're an annoying, boring know-it-all, and you couldn't get a decent guy to look at you if you paid him. So don't act all high and mighty just because of what happened during the war. You're still a freak, even if I was on the wrong side then. You're nothing," he snarled. They were almost nose to nose and Hermione's chest was heaving up and down rapidly. For a second, they sat there in silence, glaring at each other. Then, Hermione stood up so fast that she was blurred in Draco's vision, stowed her supplies in her bag with one swish of her wand, and started toward her room. She paused, marched back to Malfoy, and stomped on his foot with all the strength she could muster. She turned with a "hmph," and traipsed purposefully up her staircase and into her room, slamming the door loudly.

As she sank down her closed door and onto the cold ground, she cast the _Muffliato_ spell on the room. She completed her wand work just in time for her tears to come. She could handle being made fun of about her dedication to schoolwork and knowledge, however, as always, comments about her dating life and physical appearance hurt. She was eighteen years old and had never had a real boyfriend, and she could recite _Hogwarts, A History_ cover to cover faster than she could tame the bush on her head. Hermione began to shake as the intensity of her sobs increased, and she wrapped her arms around her knees. '_So much for not letting him get to you' _she thought sarcastically. Tears cascaded down her swollen face, and she laid her head on her forearms. She rocked herself there, back and forth, rhythmically, soothingly, until she fell asleep, still propped against the backside of her door.

On the other side of the stone wall and Hermione's _Muffliato_ spell, Draco sat brooding. Unaware of Hermione's fragile state only meters away, he stared unblinkingly at his wardrobe, not really seeing it. How dare that lowly girl belittle him because of his family? What a hypocrite! Had she not thought it wrong when he had judged her for her parentage? Was it really all that different? Was he any more responsible for what his parents had been than she responsible for what hers were? He didn't regret a thing he had said to the brat, and he hoped that it had stung. Still fuming, Draco drifted into an uneasy sleep, where he dreamt of an unidentifiable girl, sobbing uncontrollably, who, no matter how hard he tried to help, wouldn't show her face, and kept pushing him away. When he finally wrenched her arms away from her head, he saw not eyes, a nose, or a mouth, but just the word 'UGLY' carved, still bleeding, into her skin. As he dropped her wrists and screamed, her face vanished, and Draco Malfoy awoke, blinking in the morning sunlight.

**AN: Draco's dream is probably as dark as this story will get, I'm not planning much ahead of time though. Just writing chapter by chapter! But I promise cute and funny stuff is also in store! :) If you like my story, please take the time to review, it's a bit saddening to log on to none of them. And that's the way I know I should keep writing! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione Granger woke with a start, and her brow furrowed as she took in her surroundings. Her stomach plummeted as the events of the night before came flooding back to her. Mind racing, she looked at the clock on her desk, which read that she had only twenty minutes left until class began. She scrambled to her feet, grabbed her school robes, and ran into the bathroom for a shower. She turned on the water and had just begun pulling her shirt up when she heard the turning of a door knob. Snapping her top back down, she watched Draco Malfoy back into the room and close the door behind him. He turned around and jumped at the sight of her. Eyes narrowing, he opened his mouth to speak, but as he took in her appearance his precursory glare fled from his features, and a peculiar look burgeoned on his face. When he met her gaze, Hermione instantly felt angry tears threatening to blossom. Abashed, she quickly looked away, and, turning toward the mirror, she caught sight of her reflection for the first time.

This explained Draco's expression. Her face was still a bit swollen, and the dried tears that stained her skin were slightly more obvious than she would have liked. The modicum of mascara that she wore had betrayed her, and it was now residing on her cheeks in thin, crumbly streaks. Her eyelids were especially red and puffy, and as if all of that wasn't enough, her hair was so disheveled that it added almost six inches to her height. Her cheeks burned scarlet and tears stung her eyes again as she realized how apparent it was that she had cried herself to sleep. Mortified, she looked down at the ground, knowing that Malfoy had seen how his words had affected her. A solitary tear splashed to the cold floor.

Hermione took a deep breath as an attempt to steady herself. Still looking at the floor, she began to speak. "This bathroom..." she said, her voice sounding shaky and indignant, even shrill. She took another deep breath and started again in a more measured and composed manner. "This bathroom is taken. Leave," she met his eyes on the last word, uttering it fiercely and piercing him with a scathing, threatening glare.

Taken aback, Draco began stammering, "Well, I...I just...well," he looked confused, slightly scared even. Hermione didn't know if he meant to protest, but he was clearly disconcerted by her appearance and caustic stare. He babbled a few more times, and then proceeded to open and close his mouth once, without producing any sound at all. Hermione's severe expression faltered a tinge, and her brows creased slightly. It looked as if Draco really wanted to say something to her, but couldn't get it out. Disgusted by how this affected her, she snarled at him, and her hatred toward the pathetic boy dripped, almost tangibly, from her next words.

"Get. Out." she said slowly and clearly, her fiery gaze boring into Malfoy. When he dared to not move, to continue standing there, staring at her in that perplexed, baffled way, she lost her temper completely and violently shrieked at him.

"NOW!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, flinging open the door behind him, shoving him out of it, and slamming it in his fearful face. The angry tears came instantly, but Hermione didn't bother with the _Muffliato_ spell this time. She knew that the water beating the porcelain tiles would drown the sound of her sobs. She stripped down and hopped in the shower, washing furiously so as to make it to class on time.

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews! :)  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Several weeks went by during which Hermione and Draco didn't communicate at all. Hermione had been spending less and less time in the Heads dormitory as the school year progressed. As usual, the library was swiftly becoming her second home as she worked tirelessly to meet the demands of her N.E.W.T. level courses. Any time that she wasn't laden with homework, Hermione strayed to the Gryffindor common room to see Harry, Ron, and the rest of her House mates. Neither she nor Draco made much use of their common room; both stayed confined to their respective dormitories when they spent time in the apartment. Surprisingly, they had yet to even meet in the bathroom again, a fact for which Hermione was exceedingly grateful. Except for their few classes together and the tense moments when they crossed paths during patrol, the pair didn't see each other at all. This was exactly how Hermione liked it. Although her anger at Draco had subsided since their last confrontation, she still wanted to be around the arrogant prat as little as possible.

Over the weeks, Hermione noticed that Malfoy seemed to spend all of his spare time in his room. As she contemplated his bizarre new-found detachment in the library one day, she finally realized that Draco wasn't becoming more introverted at all - he simply had no friends left after the war. She felt rather thick for taking so long to discern this. She knew that Crabbe had died in the Fiendfyre and that Goyle had not returned to school at the start of term. However, in all of her years at Hogwarts, Hermione had failed to notice that Draco hadn't really acquired _any_ other companions.

As she ruminated Malfoy's situation, Hermione felt a stab of sympathy for the boy. For the first time in years, she remembered crying in a cubicle of the girls bathroom after that idiot Ronald Weasley had calumniated her so loudly and unjustly. _'No wonder she hasn't got any friends!' _he had said, reminding her of what she already knew. She recalled the way she had felt each morning, eating breakfast alone in the Great Hall. The way she had feared assignments with partners because _no one_ wanted to be with the ugly know-it-all.

At this memory, however, Hermione's thoughts took a different direction. The words _'ugly know-it-all' _ replayed in her head, but this time in Draco Malfoy's haughty voice. Her eyes narrowed as she heard again the things he had said to abase her all those weeks ago. Her compassion toward him vanished as quickly as it had materialized, and she looked back down at her book, returning her focus to more concrete, important matters.

Later that night, Hermione was patrolling alone through the corridors. Luckily, the Head Boy and Girl were assigned the first patrol shift on weekdays, so she always had the luxury of a full night's sleep, despite her duties. She followed her usual path, which included all of the places that she knew lurking students frequented. As she walked leisurely, her mind wandered to her life after Hogwarts.

Hermione sighed heavily. This topic always made her uneasy. She had thought that by this point in her life, she would have something, _anything_, planned for herself after school. She had assumed that some career path would catch her eye, and that she would move forward from there. Also, she had always hoped, even expected a little, to have a serious boyfriend by now, and that that might have some effect on her future. She rolled her eyes acerbically and thought, _'Having had _any _boyfriend by now would have been nice.'_

However, her sarcastic musings were interrupted when she realized she had meandered completely off her designated pathway and through a tapestry that led to a dead end. Blinking, she looked around. She wondered what the point of this little alcove was, opening to absolutely nothing and housing even less. She grinned at her idiosyncratic school. However, her smile soon faded when she realized that this room, like so many of the other nooks and crannies of Hogwarts, had probably been the location of the midnight rendezvous of more couples than Hermione liked to think. She blushed, thinking as she did so often lately, of how she had never experienced anything of that sort.

With all traces of happiness wiped effectively from her features, Hermione hurried forward, desperate to get out of this reminder of her inexperience, of her unwanted innocence. She pushed hard on the tapestry, and instead of gliding through it swiftly and never looking back at the awful thing, she smacked straight into it as if it were solid brick and toppled clumsily to the ground. Confused, she stood, and rubbing her backside lightly with one hand, she again gave the tapestry a shove. The cloth didn't budge, and Hermione groaned as she realized that she had fallen for one of Hogwarts's many tricks - this was one of the few entrances in the castle that could only be opened from the outside. After a few futile efforts to charm the tapestry open, she decided to send out her Patronus for help.

Thinking of Harry and Ron, Hermione raised her wand and loudly said,_ "Expecto Patronum!"_. Nothing happened. Agitated, she sat down to think. She had always had trouble with this spell. Her otter was quite the recluse, not unlike herself. Sighing, she closed her eyes and thought of the word 'happiness'. No sooner had she done this than an image erupted before her, so vivid and familiar that it seemed to have been stitched to the back of her eyelids all along, and she had only forgotten its presence.

Hermione was sitting in a bed, leaning against a man's naked chest. She was reading a tattered old book that she knew to be_ Hogwarts, A History_. The man was lightly massaging her shoulder with his right hand, while using the wand in his left to form multicolored letters in midair. The letters formed words, which formed phrases - sweet nothings that Hermione knew were playful attempts to distract her, to get her attention and show her his love at the same time. Hermione was aware that she loved this man back. She knew she loved him more than anything, and that he completed her. Hermione set down her book and was turning to kiss her husband, when suddenly her eyes shot open.

Her Patronus was next to her, shining brightly and blinking innocently. Hermione didn't remember saying the incantation again, and she mourned the loss of the picture in her head. She had never even seen the man's face, and now she was back in reality. Looking around, she remembered her predicament and turned to face her Patronus.

"I'm stuck behind one of the tapestries that won't open from the inside. It may be the one on the third floor, but I'm not positive. Please help me," she said to her silver otter, knowing it would relay the message word for word in her own voice, almost like a recording. Unable to resist the happiness that the Patronus brought with it, Hermione smiled at the animal. "Go find someone who will help me, but make sure that the person won't mind giving me their assistance. I don't want to be a burden on anyone."

The otter looked at her, blinked once, and darted straight through the impenetrable cloth as if it were made of water. Hermione expected to see Harry or Ron in a few minutes, but she had told her Patronus to find whoever wouldn't mind helping just in case the two were already asleep and someone like Neville, Ginny, or Luna was not. Hermione leaned up against the wall and stretched her legs out, preparing to wait.

However, she didn't have to wait for long. Within five minutes of its departure, Hermione's otter leapt gracefully back through the tapestry and landed on the floor next to her. It sat there for a second and then dissolved, just as the curtain began to rustle. Hermione stood up and started forward, only to stop after one step from utter shock.

"Malfoy?" she asked bluntly, not believing her eyes. The look on his face was quite eccentric; he was staring intently at the spot where her Patronus had just vanished. At the sound of her voice, his head snapped up.

"What?" He sounded disconcerted. "Oh, well... yeah, you said you needed help. I guess I was the first person your Patronus found. You're welcome," he finished sarcastically. He seemed to have regained his composure. "Well, come on then. Our shift is over, slacker." He stood back and held the tapestry aside for her. To innocent passerby he would've looked like a gentleman, but Hermione knew that this was the only way he would ever hold a door open for her. Honestly though, she was shocked that he had even come at all. Only out of gratitude for that did she choose not to retort to his comment about her work ethics.

They walked to their dormitory in silence. On the way, Hermione stole a glance at Draco. His brow was furrowed, and he seemed to have returned to his deep thinking. She began to ponder what could be troubling him so much. Before she knew it, they were standing in front of a tapestry that Hermione didn't like much better than the one she had just been stuck behind. Draco reached into his robes with his left hand and pulled out his wand. He proceeded to tap the dragon in the top right corner of the heavy cloth, and Hermione and Draco traipsed through the now revealed archway.

An aire of awkwardness took over the atmosphere as soon as the tapestry swung shut. Unsure of what to do, Hermione turned to face Draco. However, she ended up facing a stone wall instead. Looking around, she saw that he had already started up his own staircase. Hermione rolled her eyes and moved toward hers. Halfway there, she paused, and despite his discourteous behavior, she loudly said, "Hey, thanks for coming to get me, Malfoy." She heard his footsteps falter and then cease. Slightly regretting her manners, she waited with bated breath for his response. She halfway hoped he would just ignore her.

However, the Head Boy surprised her. After a few seconds of silence, he simply said, "You're welcome...". Hermione let out her breath, and in doing so, she almost missed the next thing he said. Almost, but not quite. His voice was so soft and quiet that for a second she thought she had imagined it, but eventually she couldn't deny that she had heard him conclude his dismissal of her appreciation by uttering the word, "Hermione."

The sound of his door shutting impaled the thick silence that had grown in the seconds following his statement. Hermione's feet didn't seem to be able to move. Her mind was whizzing at about a hundred miles per hour, but despite this, she couldn't make sense of what had just happened. In all of the time that she had known Draco Malfoy, he had _never_, not once, called her by her first name. In all honesty, she had always been pleased if he had referred to her as 'Granger' instead of 'Mudblood'. This string of thoughts went through her brain about four separate times before she was finally able to stumble to her own dormitory.

Once there, Hermione changed and laid down on her bed, still trying to understand all of the events that had just taken place. She had told her Patronus to find someone who wouldn't mind helping her, so contrary to what Malfoy believed, he wasn't just the first person her shining otter had found. He must have been completely willing to help her, not annoyed at all, or her Patronus wouldn't have sought him. On top of that, she was absolutely dumbfounded about Draco's use of her first name. After all this time, did he actually see her as his equal? It sounded absolutely preposterous in her head, but when he had said those three words his voice was void of its usual sarcasm and scorn. Hermione was completely baffled.

As she drifted off to sleep, her thoughts returned to the image that had conjured her Patronus. Her heart warmed as she pictured the scene again. She went over every detail of it in her mind, battling her tired brain, trying to remember if there had been anything defining about the wizard on whom she had leaned. Most of his body had been covered by their duvet, and of course, she hadn't seen his face. Her heart leapt as she remembered that he had been using his wand in his left hand. That was defining! However, she couldn't think of anyone she knew that was left-handed. Slightly put out, Hermione cast the thought from her mind. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen the wizard's wand before. Giving in to her body's needs, she relaxed her posture and fell straight to sleep. Her dreams were riddled with blond hair, mysterious wands, silver otters, and brick walls painted to look like tapestries.

**AN: Sorry this update took so long! I've been really busy with work and I had to take my ACT test and I experienced a small dosage of writer's block. But hopefully this super long chapter makes up for it :p Happy reading! Please review! **


	6. Chapter 6

The next Saturday morning Hermione woke early. Wide awake and knowing she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, she rose and moved toward the bathroom, where she turned on the shower. After letting the water run hot, she got in, and took her time bathing. Today was a trip to Hogsmeade, but she didn't have anyone to go with. Harry and Ginny were going together, and Hermione really didn't fancy spending the day alone with Ron. Biting her lip, she opted to go alone; she would just pick up the things she needed and head back to the castle. It was a slightly boring way to go about the day, but she figured that she didn't have much choice in the matter. It might be pleasant to spend the day alone anyhow, she decided.

Hermione finished washing herself and stepped from the spray of the water, reaching for a towel. She dried herself and wrapped the cloth around her body. Pausing, she listened to see if she could hear any movement coming from Draco's room. All was silent. Hesitating for just a moment, she ran to her trunk, returning seconds later with a small bag in hand. In an uncharacteristic move, Hermione decided to spend a little more time on her appearance than usual. Feeling the need to justify herself, she reasoned that not only was she going into town, but the day was still far too young for her to expect breakfast to be on the table. Satisfied with her excuses to care about her looks, she turned her attention to the sparse contents of her make-up pouch.

All that Hermione ever wore was mascara, and most days she was hard pressed to apply that. But that was the only product she owned that she was comfortable with, so she went ahead and put it on, using a bit more than she normally would have. Feeling daring, she put a tiny bit of eye liner around her rims. Her audacity ran dry at this point, and she decided that that was more than enough make-up for her. Pushing her bag aside, she sighed at her unruly hair.

Between some product and a few charms that she had mastered over time, Hermione managed to tame her bushy mane into somewhat flattering curls. She brushed her teeth and pulled on her clothes, and was just putting on some lip gloss when she heard the door to her left open. Her head swiveled in the direction of the noise, and what she saw made her blush.

Draco Malfoy was standing in the doorway, towel in hand and chest exposed. His pajama pants were sitting dangerously low on his hips and his hair was sticking up at odd angles. He didn't seem very bothered by any of this, but Hermione, who had only ever seen Harry and Ron shirtless, was slightly abashed. Even when she had seen her friends like this, it hadn't been in such an intimate setting. They had always been changing after riding dragons or after the Polyjuice Potion wore off. Malfoy had just rolled out of bed and meandered lazily into their bathroom, to shower and dress at his leisure. Hermione didn't like where this thought was leading at all, and returned her attention to the situation at hand. Her color deepened as she saw that his eyes were currently raking over her just as intently as hers had over him moments ago. Forcing herself to meet his probing gaze, she waited for him to speak. She prayed to Merlin that her face looked properly indignant. However, Draco didn't even seem to notice her expression.

"Nice, Granger," he said simply, and turned to place his towel on the rack.

"What?" Hermione inquired, incredulous and baffled. She seriously doubted that Draco Malfoy would ever praise her, even with that pathetic excuse for a compliment. She wondered if he was being crude.

However, Draco ignored her question and instead asked some of his own. "Why so fancy? Are you going into Hogsmeade with Weasley?" Hermione saw him snarl at the mention of Ron's surname. The color returned to her face.

"Oh, uh, no, no I'm not, actually..." she said lamely, awkwardly. Malfoy raised his eyebrows at her.

"Who're you going with then?" he asked, looking intrigued and smirking slightly.

Hermione felt a bit overwhelmed, due in part to the questioning and in part to the questioner. Choosing to ignore his interrogations, she grabbed her stuff. "Right, enjoy your shower, then," she said, and then she slipped swiftly out the door, closing it behind her.

Later on that day, Hermione was standing in Hogsmeade, going over her list of needed materials in her head once more. Mentally checking off the last item, she wondered what she should do next. She had no more errands to run and no one to spend time with, but she hated to end a trip to Hogsmeade so early. Deciding to browse the shelves at Tomes and Scrolls, she hurried up the main road, hugging herself against the crisp October air.

She entered the small bookshop and wiped her feet on the doormat. The warmth of the place licked her chilled skin, and the smell of coffee immediately dominated her olfactory sense. Grinning at the familiar little store, she began to peruse the mountains and rows of books. After awhile, she came across a tome about Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. She sighed wistfully, remembering the shy little love tango that she and Ron had danced for all those years. She could feel an onslaught of depressed and lonely emotions coming her way, and quickly grabbed the first book she made contact with to distract herself. Reading the back cover, she discovered that it was a fictional love story that had obviously been misplaced on the shelves. Groaning, she set it back down rather harshly and opted instead for one about the connection between the rein of Grindelwald and the Muggles' historical World War II.

After ordering a coffee from the tiny counter in the front corner of the store, Hermione wandered down the winding rows of shelves to a small collection of worn armchairs that were out of sight to everyone else in the place. She sat down and made herself comfortable, then opened her book and began to read. Her bad feelings slowly ebbed away as she learned interesting fact after interesting fact about the truth behind World War II. She was already on on page 76 by the time that Draco Malfoy stumbled upon her hiding place. As engrossed as she was, he had almost backed completely out of sight before she heard his footsteps.

Her head snapped towards the noise caused by her intruder, and she blushed, remembering the way she had walked out on him earlier that morning. He nodded curtly at her and turned to leave. Then, the strangest thing happened. Hermione's mouth started to move out of its own accord and it blurted out the word, "Wait!".

Draco turned back toward Hermione, eyebrows raised. She knew her expression betrayed her shock at herself, and she quickly equivocated an excuse for delaying him. "I got to sleep in a bed the other night because you came and saved me. You can stay here, I'll go find somewhere else to read," she said, and, looking down, she gathered her book and coffee and started to leave. However, Draco stopped her by touching the tips of his fingers to her shoulder. She gasped quietly at the slight contact, and turned her frightful gaze to his face.

"I know this is the only place in the shop to sit. We're eighteen years old and we live together for Merlin's sake! Can we not be civil enough to read beside each other? Honestly, I'm not going to make you give up your spot. But I love that you think that low of me," he finished sarcastically, but Hermione could see the outline of a smirk on his features.

Her expression peculiar, Hermione sat back down and returned to her reading. She stole a glance at the blonde boy next to her. How strange it was, to be sitting with Draco Malfoy. Just sitting - no snarling, no snide comments, no degrading name calling. She and Draco were just sitting there, reading quietly to themselves, as equals. They weren't friends by any means, but she could tell that they were no longer enemies. The confusing realization made her head spin, and she returned to the safer, more understandable world of literature.

Hermione didn't know how much time had passed when Draco broke their comfortable silence. "Hey Granger..." he started, looking over at her.

She rolled her eyes at the renewed use of her surname, but in reality, Hermione was far more comfortable with Malfoy calling her that. She set her book on her lap, looked over at him, and waited.

"What does it mean when two people have the same Patronus...?" he asked airily.

Hermione pondered the question for a moment, mulling over all of the Patronus oddities that she had ever witnessed. After a minute or two, she looked at him and said, "Well, the only time I've ever heard about that is when the two people are soul mates. Professor Snape and Harry's mum had the same Patronus. Although, I haven't fully researched the topic of course. I'm sure that sometimes it's just coincidence, don't you think? There aren't enough animals in the world for each individual to have their own. Why do you ask, anyway?" Hermione finished, curious.

"Oh, no reason. I just found it interesting. Yeah, I'm sure there are loads of cases of coincidence..." Draco trailed off. Hermione noticed that the book on his lap was open to a chapter about Patronuses. Her forehead creased slightly as she wondered why he was so intrigued. However, Draco noticed her looking at the book and promptly closed it.

Embarrassed at being caught, Hermione looked down at her watch. She gasped when she realized that she and Draco had sat in the book shop for over an hour after all Hogwarts students were supposed to be back at the school.

"Oh my goodness! We're so late!" she said loudly to Draco, jumping up and placing her book on the nearest shelf. She grabbed her bag and raced toward the door. It was already dark outside. She groaned and rushed out, only to be stopped by Malfoy's commanding, but calm, voice.

"Don't even think about it, Granger," he started. "You're not going back alone in the dark." As if he sensed the fire ignite inside Hermione, he quickly added, "I know you're capable of defending yourself, but if something did happen and Dumbledore found out I let you walk back to the school alone, I don't even want to think about the guilt trip the old codger would send me on. You know as well as I do that we won't be in trouble, so just quit your worrying and come walk with me like a normal person instead of a marathon runner."

Slightly abashed, Hermione waited for Malfoy to catch up, and then fell into step with him. They didn't speak, but their silence wasn't awkward or strained. Hermione's mind contemplated the events of the day. She blushed as she realized that she had actually enjoyed spending it with Malfoy.

When they finally passed through the gates of the school, their path became much darker. Without the aid of the oil lamps that hung on the outside of the cottages of Hogsmeade, Hermione and Draco really couldn't see anything at all. She could just make out Malfoy's dark figure plunge its left arm into his robes and pull out his wand.

"_Lumos!_" said Draco, and suddenly Hermione could see his features illuminated by the small green light. Before she could stop herself, she thought that his face was really quite stunning. Just as swiftly as the thought had come however, it was knocked out of her head by the realization of who she was thinking about. Alarmed at herself, she hastily pulled out her own wand and cast the same spell, grateful when he lowered his beam of light to the ground.

Together they made their way up the steep hills to the castle. Luckily, the front door opened for them. Extinguishing their wands, they began to climb the stairs to their dormitory. Upon arriving, Draco raised the unengaged wand in his left hand to awaken the dragon and let Hermione and himself into the common room. Looking down at the ground, Hermione moved forward to follow Draco inside, only to run into his back. She bounced to the side slightly. The tapestry sealed itself, and suddenly she and Malfoy were across from each other in the very confined space under the stone archway. Her breath hitched, and she made to move out into the open space of the common room, but for the second time that day, Draco placed his hand on her shoulder, stunting her movements. Hermione's eyes were wide as they made contact with his. His gaze was boring into her, and she couldn't identify all of the emotions it contained. Confused, she simply stood there.

They stayed like this for only a second, but it felt like an eternity to Hermione. Finally, Draco opened his mouth and, in his mellifluous voice, said, "Goodnight, Hermione." Without another word, he turned and moved swiftly up his staircase and into his bedroom, closing his door behind him.

For the second time that week, Hermione was left alone, glued to the floor of her common room. Her heart was beating unusually fast and she felt the heat radiating from her cheeks. She didn't even know where to start attempting to decode Draco Malfoy's actions of the day and wasn't sure that she had the energy to do it anyway. Feeling light headed, she staggered up to her bedroom and flopped roughly onto her bed, without even changing into her night dress. Right before she fell asleep, she could have sworn she heard herself mumble the words, "Goodnight, Draco."

**AN: I was reading some Harry Potter facts the other day, and I came across one that said that Grindelwald died in 1945, which is the same year that Adolf Hitler died. So I wasn't making up the connection in Hermione's book! I don't know, I just thought that was pretty interesting. Please leave a review if you like the story! Thanks so much for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

On Monday afternoon, Hermione Granger had a double Potions lesson. So, as soon as she finished her lunch, she traipsed down the staircase to the dungeons and bade the sunlight good bye. She reached the Potions classroom and opened the door. No one else had arrived yet - not even Professor Slughorn. Despite this, Hermione went in and sat down. After she had unpacked her bag and organized her materials, she looked at her watch. Realizing that there were still twenty minutes left of lunch, she took a book out of her bag to pass the time. It was a tome about the earliest wizarding civilizations that she had checked out from the library at the start of term. However, she hadn't had the chance to delve very far into its contents. Between schoolwork and sleeping, she had hardly had any time to read for pleasure this year. Cherishing the rare opportunity, Hermione dove right into the book, and the rest of the world faded away.

She was so engrossed in the pages that she didn't even notice Draco Malfoy's arrival a short ten minutes later. Knowing that Hermione was oblivious to his presence, and deciding not to alert her to it, Draco leaned against the door frame, not entering the classroom. He watched her for a few moments. Her hair was a bit bushier than usual - probably because she kept running her fingers through it absentmindedly. She was stooped low over her book, but he could still make out how flushed her cheeks were. He noticed that her eyes were wide and moving so rapidly that it was really a wonder they didn't pop out of her head. Suppressing a laugh, he concluded from her slightly crazed appearance that Hermione must be enjoying whatever she was reading. Of course, Hermione always enjoyed reading anything and everything, so he wasn't really surprised. He felt an unfamiliar surge of appreciation for the girl. Draco didn't know where the feeling came from, but it made him uncomfortable, so he detached himself from the wall and walked into the room, taking his usual seat.

Hermione jumped at the sound of his chair. Chuckling, he turned toward her, and gave her a wave of acknowledgement. She beamed at him and went back to her reading. For some reason, Draco's heart leapt. Grudgingly, he admitted to himself that her smile really was pretty. Disconcerted by his involuntary reaction and the direction of his thoughts, he pulled his bag up onto his desk, laid his head down on it, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep until class started.

With one minute left until the tardy bell rang, Harry and Ron ran into the room, taking their places by Hermione. She put up her book and rolled her eyes at her friends, though she couldn't help grinning. As the bell sounded, Professor Slughorn waved his wand at the door and it closed itself, signaling the beginning of class.

"Okay, students!" he started cheerily, his enormous belly bouncing up and down. "Everyone gather round, gather round!" he said, waving his hands in a hurried motion toward a table in the front of the room, where a considerably large cauldron sat. The potion inside was steaming and making the occasional slurping sound. The small class squeezed together so that they could all see the contents. That is, all but one. Hermione noticed that Draco stayed put at his desk. He seemed rather bored by the lesson already. How typical of him. As Professor Slughorn's voice sounded again, her thoughts shifted from Draco to the sunshine yellow liquid that the cauldron held.

"Does anyone know what this is?" he asked, looking pointedly at Harry. Hermione knew this was because Harry had actually brewed this very potion in his sixth year, but she could tell by his blank look that he didn't remember that at all. She had to cut him some slack - he had been through quite a lot since he had concerned himself with this concoction

"It's the Elixir to Induce Euphoria, sir," Hermione said, drawing Slughorn's eyes away from Harry and onto her.

"Of course, my dear, of course! Five points to Gryffindor! You never cease to amaze me, Miss Granger!"

Hermione gave a small smile. "Thank you, sir," she said quietly.

"Right, now, today we will be making the Elixir to Induce Euphoria, everyone! It's on page five hundred and ninety-six of your books, and since today is a double lesson, I expect you all to be finished before class ends! Ready, set, begin!" Professor Slughorn boomed, and the class scattered.

After sitting back down, Hermione turned to the page for the Elixir to Induce Euphoria in her copy of _Advanced Potion Making II_ and lit a fire under her cauldron. She collected some Shrivelfig and castor beans, and then set to work preparing porcupine quills for brewing. Halfway through cutting a chunk of wormwood, she looked up at her friends. They were still chattering with one another and flipping lazily through their books. She smiled and flicked her wand covertly, and suddenly Harry and Ron had found the right page. Hermione had to admit that she enjoyed Potions class a lot more now that Harry didn't have the Half Blood Prince's knowledge to his advantage.

Hermione was almost finished with her potion when she realized that she was out of black beetles, whose juice was the final ingredient in the concoction. She asked Harry and Ron for some, but apparently the two had never even purchased any for the class to begin with. Appalled by her friends' lack of preparation and her own lapse in memory (she had just been in Hogsmeade, for Merlin's sake!), Hermione went to search through the inventory of supplies that Professor Slughorn made available to students. Entering the small closet, she began to poke through the shelves, but she knew that it was most likely a futile effort. Black beetles were very expensive this time of year, as their juice supply decreased during the colder months. Hermione couldn't find a single one, and she began to panic slightly.

Being Hermione, she couldn't just not finish a potion. As a last desperate attempt, she decided that she would have to try to convince one of her acquaintances in the class to loan her some beetles. She hoped that if she promised to pay them back, someone would help her out. Doubting her plan already, Hermione turned around to exit the store room.

However, when she pivoted to face the door, she received a face full of Draco Malfoy's chest. She jumped so high that they were the same height for a moment, and she barely stifled a screech. Abashed, she glared at him incredulously.

"What was that for Malfoy?" she asked of the smirking blonde, forgetting in her anger that they were on a first name basis now. "Can you not announce your presence? You scared me out of my skin!"

She was breathing heavy and her eyes were huge. Draco found it almost endearing on her. He laughed, and instead of answering, he raised his closed fist slowly, and opened it when it was high enough for Hermione to clearly see its contents. Her eyes grew even wider as she realized that he was offering her a handful of black beetles, enough to get her through more than just this one lesson. She looked up at him, and he could see in her expression just how thankful she was. He smiled wider. School really meant so much to this girl.

She opened her mouth to speak, but Draco beat her to it. "One condition," he said seriously. Her gaze faltered and she looked questioningly up at him. "Don't you dare share my stuff with Weasley and Potter."

Hermione beamed. Draco's tone was menacing, but she could see the playful twinkle in his eyes. "Oh, thank you so much! You have no idea what these silly beetles mean to me right now! I could just kiss you!" Draco noticed her cheeks flush with color as soon as she mentioned their lips touching. "Umm, right," she continued lamely, avoiding his eyes all of the sudden. "Thank you so much!" she finished. Grabbing the beetles from his outstretched hand, she flashed him one more smile before hurrying off to finish her potion.

Draco stood frozen in the supply closet for a second. He could feel his own cheeks emanating a small amount heat. He knew that his blush stemmed from her comment, and he did not like the effect that it had on him at all. However, Draco quickly convinced himself that of course he was going to be embarrassed by such a blunt statement coming from someone whom he barely knew. He nodded his head to himself a few times, and, satisfied with his excuse, returned to his own cauldron.

When five minutes were left in the period, Professor Slughorn called time and started around the room, inspecting everyone's potion. A group of Ravenclaws all got a nod of approval from him and a Hufflepuff student simply received a sigh and a shake of the head. When Slughorn reached Ron's purple sludge, it roared at him and splashed all over his robes, eliciting a scream from both him and Ron. Harry's potion also earned a nod of approval, although it seemed stiffer than the ones he gave to the Ravenclaw students. Hermione supposed that this was because Harry had gone from Slughorn's star pupil to an average student. When the professor finally reached Hermione's potion, his expression softened, and he smiled at her.

"Wonderful as usual, Miss Granger! Another two points to Gryffindor. You are simply the best!"

Slughorn moved on from her desk in much higher spirits than he had arrived at it in, and Hermione looked sideways at Draco, smiling. She mouthed the words 'Thank you!', and he grinned at her, nodding once. However small this interaction was, it did not go unnoticed by her two friends, who she peripherally saw exchange looks of bewilderment and disbelief. Sighing, she wondered how she was going to explain this to the pair of them, when she could hardly explain it to herself.

Slughorn's voice distracted her from her thoughts. "Excellent Draco, excellent," she heard him murmur. Hermione was surprised. She had never paid much attention to Malfoy's talent in school. The only time that she had ever heard a teacher praise him was when Professor Snape used to teach Potions, and she had assumed that was because he was the Professor's favorite. Now that she thought about it however, she never really heard any of the other students get compliments either. The best at every subject, Hermione had always overshadowed everyone else. But she supposed that Malfoy had to have decent grades to be made Head Boy, and he was in more than one of her classes, which meant he had done well on his O.W.L.s. She heard Slughorn say, "A point to Slytherin," before he moved on. However, his reward didn't seem to have much effect on Draco.

When Professor Slughorn had finished his analysis, he returned to the front of the room and spoke to the class at large. "As a group, you did a fair job today," he started. "I'll need to see Mr. Potter, Mr. Wallanbee, Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, and Mr. Torrence for a quick second, but the rest of you are dismissed."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged looks. Malfoy, a Ravenclaw boy, and the three of them stayed put while the rest of the class disposed of their potions, packed up, and shuffled out of the room. When they were all alone, Slughorn spoke again.

"I've decided to throw a Halloween costume party, and all of you are invited!" he said, beaming at them all as if this were a huge treat.

"Blimey," Ron mumbled. "He's never invited me before. What gives?"

Hermione leaned over Harry to whisper her reply. "He knew about the Horcruxes remember? I bet he knows that you helped destroy them. If a student did something great, that man won't miss it," she concluded, rolling her eyes and slumping down in her chair.

"Still not good enough for him to get my damn name right," she heard Ron murmur, his voice full of contempt.

"Of course a select few other important students will be invited," Slughorn continued. "And you're all free to bring dates. It will be Halloween night at nine o'clock! What do you say?" he finished, still smiling maniacally.

There was a mumble of obviously feigned excitement from all of them. This seemed to satisfy Slughorn however, and he clapped his hands together in a conclusive sort of way.

"Splendid!" he boomed. "Remember, bring whomever you'd like and costumes are required for entrance! See all of you then!" he finished, and sat back down at his desk.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly moved out of the classroom and back up to the main level of the school. Hermione's mind was racing. She really hated being put in this position. She had absolutely no one to ask to this party, but it would be humiliating to show up alone. Harry would, of course, be going with Ginny, and there was no way she was asking Ron. Cormac McLaggen would probably go with her, but she didn't want to torture herself like that again. She was already listing all of the single Gryffindor boys' names in her head by the time Harry's voice brought her back to reality.

"Hey, Hermione? Hermione? I'm talking to you!" he said, sounding exasperated.

"Oh, sorry Harry," she replied. "I was thinking."

"What was that thing with Malfoy back in the dungeons?" Harry asked churlishly, ignoring her apology.

Hermione looked at her friends. Ron was staring at the floor, wearing a sour expression, and Harry was watching her impatiently. "Oh come off it you two," she began indignantly. "He loaned me some beetles so I could get my potion done."

"Why would Malfoy just loan you, you of all people, some beetles?" Harry asked, genuinely nonplussed.

"Because I needed them. He doesn't just go around handing out dead bugs," Hermione responded.

"You know that's not what I meant," said Harry. "Are you guys friends now? Last I checked he would have been happy to see you fail."

"We're not friends," said Hermione defensively. "We've just learned to be civil to one another, considering we live together. I think it's mature of the both of us."

Harry seemed to ponder her words for a moment. His expressions were so familiar to her that she knew the moment she had won. He did so grudgingly, but he accepted the fact that she was right. "Okay then, Hermione," he said, "That makes sense. I still hate the bastard though," he finished, making her chuckle.

She heard Ron snort humorlessly from the other side of Harry. Leaning across her black-haired friend, she glared at him. "What was that for Ronald?" she asked, eyes narrowing.

"It's a bit more than civil for him to help you out on your work, don't you think? Civil means not yelling at each other every time you're in the same room, not being buddy-buddy and giving each other stuff," he said, sneering at her.

She rolled her eyes. Ron's jealously didn't make her feel good any more, it just made her angry. "First of all, Ronald," she started, her voice suddenly much quieter. "Malfoy gave me dead bugs. He didn't give me a birthday present or broomstick, he gave me dead bugs. So I think you're overreacting just a smidgen," she held her thumb and forefinger close together to further exaggerate her point. "Second of all, even if he had given me those things, it wouldn't be any of your business, now would it?" she asked. Her tone was caustic, her words carefully chosen to cut into him. With her next statement, her voice raised a few octaves. "In fact, even I wanted to sleep with him, you'd have no say in it and no right to tell me not to!" she finished, screaming the last few words.

Moving her legs faster, she sped away from the two boys and back to her common room. She was embarrassed with herself for her sexual comment about Draco, and she prayed that no one told him about it. She was also beyond mad, and the unstoppable angry tears were falling steadily by the time she stabbed the dragon on her tapestry. Running through the portrait hole, she threw her bag on the floor, and flung herself face down onto the couch. She grabbed one of the stiff throw pillows and screamed into it. Once, twice, and again a third time. After this release, she took a few deep breaths. Her sobs subsided slightly, and she laid down in a more comfortable position. She was aware on some level that she was angry about far more than just Ron's petty jealously, but she was too exhausted to analyze her feelings at the moment. She thought that she should move up to her dormitory before falling asleep, where Draco wouldn't be able to just stumble in upon her. How odd it would be, when each of them had avoided their common room so resolutely all year, to find her napping on the couch. However, she didn't make it much farther than the thought of moving before she was sound asleep.

**AN: I'm so so sorry that this update took so long! I had the chapter finished Monday night, then decided I didn't like it and rewrote the whole thing. Thank you for being patient. **

**Also, I need to make a correction to my author's note from the last chapter. An anonymous reviewer named 'imeggg' totally caught me on this. Grindelwald didn't die in 1945! He died in the _Deathly Hallows. _Dumbledore just defeated him and sent him to Nurmengard Prizon in 1945. So he didn't die, his reign just ended then. Thanks imeggg for telling me that, I felt like a Harry Potter novice when I read it _**

**As always, thanks for reading, suggestions are welcome, and please leave a review!  
**


	8. Chapter 8

Draco Malfoy strolled slowly down the fourth floor corridor, thinking about the invitation he had just received. He abominated the very idea of the party; he could think of a hundred other ways that he would rather spend an evening. However, he was quite sure that he wouldn't be able to get out of attending, being the Head Boy. Plus, as if just having to go wasn't bad enough, Draco also had to find a date for the bloody thing, which was a particularly onerous task for him these days. After the war, his plethora of date options had diminished dramatically, and quite frankly, he didn't much fancy spending an evening with any of the girls that would still be up for it. Rolling his eyes, he reached his left hand into his pocket and fumbled for his wand. He found it just as he arrived at his tapestry. He poked the stitched dragon, watched it breathe fire, waited for the cloth to move aside, and then walked through the stone archway.

Draco blinked in the dim light, then headed toward his staircase. However, when he was almost there, he noticed something out of place. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dog on the couch. Startled, he quickly turned around, only to realize that the dog that he had seen was really Hermione's bushy mane. Chuckling at his mistake, he moved closer to the girl, looking down at her. She was decidedly fast asleep; her breathing was steady and she didn't stir at his footsteps. He said her name once, however, just to be sure. Again, Hermione didn't move. Draco wondered why she was sleeping here, when her private dormitory was just meters away. Upon closer examination though, Draco saw that her cheeks were stained with tears.

"What on earth could have made her cry? She was completely fine in class just fifteen minutes ago!" Draco muttered incredulously. "Women," he said, rolling his eyes.

He was a bit unsure of what to do. The gentlemanly thing would, of course, be to take her up to her bed. However, if Hermione woke up in his arms, or worse, while he was laying her down, she would probably mistake his intentions for unholy ones, especially in her sleepy state. He definitely didn't want to risk getting into that awkward situation.

_'Besides,' _he thought to himself. _'I already gave her potions ingredients today. It's not like I'm her boyfriend, I don't have to do everything for her.' _His cheeks heated at the word 'boyfriend'. This frustrated him. That was the second time in one day that Hermione Granger had made him blush, and this time it was just the thought of her! As he pondered what in the world could be wrong with him, Hermione fidgeted a little in her sleep. A small sound escaped her lips, and it brought Draco back to the present. He stared at her face. Her mouth was moving; it looked as if she was trying to form words. He raised an eyebrow at the sleeping witch, just as she achieved her decided goal.

"I... I...," she mumbled, brow furrowing. Draco's eyes narrowed, and a smirk arose on his face. No matter how much he had changed, he was still a Slytherin, and he wouldn't pass up the chance to hear what lingered in Granger's subconscious if she was so willing to tell him, no matter how dirty it was for him to listen in.

"You what?" Draco said soothingly, egging her on.

"I... I hate...," Hermione said, a little bit louder. Draco's smirk widened into a michievous grin.

"What do you hate?" he purred.

"I hate you...," she said, and before Draco could react, she suddenly flung her arms out wildly, and she managed to hit Draco in the face. "I hate you Ronald Weasley!" she shouted. Her outburst ended as suddenly as it had come on, and she drew her arms back in, giving a soft snore. With some final unintelligible but contemptuous sounding mumbles, she turned to face the back of the couch and tucked her arms in front of her.

From his position on the floor, Draco laughed out loud. He rubbed his cheek softly where her flailing hand had smacked him, but he was smiling as he did so. _'Serves the Weasel right,' _he thought, standing up. _'Even when I hated you, I knew you were way to good for that idiot. Way to realize it for yourself, Granger.'_

Draco turned to walk away, but something caught his eye as he did so. Whipping back around, his color deepened for a third time that day. It surpassed the earlier pink and went straight to maroon. He now resembled an embarrassed version of the aforementioned Weasley brother. Hermione's skirt had ridden substantially as she had turned around and now Draco could see not only every inch of leg that the girl possessed, but also a good fraction of the curvature of her buttocks. Draco spun around and put his hands on his head. He was completely mortified and his head was spinning. Even though he was no longer facing the scene, it was as though the image of Hermione had been tattooed on his corneas, for it was just as clear as it had been two seconds ago. As if Malfoy's situation wasn't bad enough, before he could stop it, his teenage mind dove into a pool of thoughts that was strictly forbidden, especially when Hermione Granger had anything to do with them. He couldn't help but notice how soft her milky skin looked, and, much to his dismay, how full her bottom seemed to be. Draco felt his cock twitch, and decided that that was enough. He forced his head far away from that sinful place.

Appalled at himself, he quickly conjured a blanket and threw it over Hermione's lower half. Then, he all but ran into his room, where he locked the door behind him and immediately grabbed the first book that his hand came in contact with (which, ironically, was _Hogwarts, A History_), and proceeded to read it like he had never read it before.

Around nightfall, Hermione began to stir. As she took in her surroundings, she was confused for a minute, but slowly she remembered everything that had happened that afternoon. Looking at her watch, she confirmed that dinner would still be on the table for Hogwarts' latest eaters, and she stood to leave. She faltered as she felt a blanket fall off of her. Pausing, she thought back. She didn't remember covering herself. In fact, there hadn't even been a blanket in the common room. Looking closely at the thick wool, she realized that it was emerald green and embroidered with Slytherin's symbol. She instantly recognized it as the work of Malfoy, and although incorporating his House into it was quite tacky, she deemed the notion a sweet one.

Placing the blanket onto the back of the couch, she started toward the door. She glanced at Draco's staircase on the way. His door was ajar, indicating that he wasn't here. She supposed she would have to thank him later, and left their dormitory to fill her empty stomach.

**AN: Sorry for the shortness! I broke this chapter into two pieces. Thanks for reading! Leave a review :)  
**


	9. Chapter 9

Hermione Granger walked briskly down the main street of Hogsmeade. Professor Slughorn had given everyone attending his party permission to go this second Saturday in a row in order to shop for a costume. Even though it had been almost a week since their argument, Hermione still didn't want to be anywhere near Ron, so she was visiting the town by herself once more. She was quite lonely, but she was focusing hard on the task at hand so as not to let it bother her.

The air was chilly, and she was thankful when she reached Gladrags Wizardwear. She opened the door and stepped inside, letting her eyes adjust to the light. The shop was adorned from floor to ceiling with Halloween garb. It was much more gory than the smiling scarecrows and sheet ghosts that the Muggles put out. Realistic cadavers hung from ropes, cobwebs that were home to enlarged spiders spanned the entirety of the ceiling, and blood that Hermione hoped dearly was fake was oozing magically from the walls. To complete this look, a giant cauldron bubbled in the corner of the room, giving off a strange light. A witch stood over it, stirring and mumbling. She was a picture perfect representation of what Muggles thought witches looked like, but Hermione knew from previous visits to the shop that her appearance was not an asset to the Halloween theme. In fact, the witch always looked like that - creepy, dirty, and a bit crazy.

The entrance bell rang when Hermione came in, and the lady looked up at her. She gave Hermione a toothless smile and went back to her stirring. Hermione grimaced and began looking around, trying to ignore the savage decor. She had no idea what she wanted to dress up as - she hadn't dressed up for Halloween since before she had found out about the existence of Hogwarts.

Hermione walked idly along the two rows that held costumes, looking at all the choices she had. There were zombies, mummies, vampires, and even Grim Reapers. She noticed that the place had basically the same variety as a Muggle costume shop, except without football players and cheerleaders, and of course, without witch and wizard costumes. Also, there were a few things that a Muggle child wouldn't dress up as. For instance, there were Quidditch players, house elves, and even an Albus Dumbledore costume. She beamed at the long wig and half-moon spectacles, imagining a small child in this adorable get up.

When she reached the adult section, she cringed at the sparse amount of clothing on the female models. No doubt she would see a lot more skin than she wanted to at Professor Slughorn's party. Rolling her eyes, she tried to ignore this, and began to look for a more tasteful costume for herself.

Eventually, she found three costumes that seemed like they would cover her more adequately than the rest, without being completely ridiculous (like the Golden Snith or Whomping Willow costumes, for example). After getting permission from the old witch that ran the store, Hermione went into the bathroom to try on fairy, mermaid, and angel costumes.

After some complications, Hermione finally managed to untangle the fairy outfit and get into it. However, she did have to use magic to get the wings on. The costume was bright pink, and the bottom resembled a Muggle tutu. The wings fluttered of their own accord, and the entire dress was covered in glitter. Even though she looked admittedly cute, she couldn't bring herself to wear such an attention-grabbing outfit in front of her peers. She took off the costume, folded it, and returned it to its packaging.

The mermaid outfit was even harder to get into than the fairy dress. Once she finally got her feet through the tail flipper, she reached for the top half, only to realize that the sea shell bra wasn't attached to a shirt. Abashed, she took off the costume immediately.

She sighed. She didn't really want to wear that one anyway - it was decidedly a much too inaccurate portrayal of how real mermaids looked.

Hermione picked up the angel costume and opened its bag. She hoped that this one would work out, as she really didn't fancy spending much more time in the store. The outfit was a lot simpler than the others to put on. The dress was white and the bodice was laced with gold ribbon. It had long and airy sleeves, and the skirt poofed out slightly, but it wasn't nearly as gaudy as the tutu of the fairy costume. It reached the middle of her thigh, which Hermione supposed wasn't too bad, considering the skimpy costumes out front.

Hermione looked in the mirror and smiled at her reflection. Grabbing the small golden halo from the bag, she placed it on top of her head, where it floated by itself. She deemed the costume acceptable, and, sighing with relief, she undressed and put her own clothes back on. Taking the costume with her, she left the bathroom and payed the old witch.

As she was walking out the door, she bumped into something hard and stumbled backwards. Looking up, she realized that this something hard was the chest of Draco Malfoy.

"Sorry!" they said at the same time.

They chuckled at this, and then Malfoy made to move around her. However, she suddenly remembered the blanket that he had given her. Seizing the opportunity to thank him finally, she quickly said, "Hey, thanks for the blanket the other night! Although putting the Slytherin snake on it wasn't really necessary!"

At the mention of the blanket, Draco made an unintelligible noise and turned bright read. Confused by his reaction, Hermione's brows furrowed slightly.

"You know, it's not a big deal that you were being nice to me. You don't have to be that embarrassed, no one can even hear us," Hermione said, and there was a testy edge in her voice.

Draco sensed that she was getting the wrong idea, and he didn't want to make her angry, especially in public. He was trying to make a new reputation for himself, and that would not help it along. Thinking fast, he said, "Oh, I'm not embarrassed, I just didn't even realize the snake was on there. That's just the first way I learned to conjure them, you see," he finished, smiling lamely at her. Even if that wasn't his reason for blushing, he was telling the truth - he hadn't known that he had put the Slytherin symbol onto her blanket. He had hardly cared about stitch work in that situation. "But it's just as well I suppose. I can't go being too nice to you now can I?" he finished with a playful wink.

"Oh," she said, sounding far away. He could tell that she was weighing his story for truth, which made him slightly nervous. He was happy when her gaze came back to the present and she seemed to accept his words. "Well I'll let you get back to your shopping then," she said, grinning genuinely at him. "See you later," she concluded, and headed off in the direction of the castle, leaving him alone to try on costumes for the party.

The next week passed uneventfully. Hermione spent most of her time studying. Her anger at Ron had not yet subsided, so she hadn't been by Gryffindor tower in quite some time. Draco had started using his desk in their common room to do his homework after he had caught Hermione napping there. She was glad that the room was no longer out-of-bounds for them, and one night, when her loneliness had reached a high point, she even joined him there to do her own work.

By the Thursday before the Halloween party, Hermione was becoming desperate to find a date. She hadn't realized how scarce her options were. She had known that Ron and Harry were out of the picture, but she had forgotten that Cormac McLaggen had been a year ahead of her, so he wasn't even in school, and Neville had started dating Luna at the end of the war. On top of that, Ernie Macmillian had never returned to complete his seventh year, and Justin Finch-Fletchley was going out with Susan Bones. When she really thought about it, the only other boys she really knew were the remaining Weasley brothers, who had left the school a long time ago. Hermione thought about going with a Ravenclaw prefect who she had patrolled with a few years ago, but she couldn't even remember his name, and after that realization she felt that it would be rather uncouth and slightly pitiful to ask.

After a day of scoping out all of possible dates that were left, she asked Dean Thomas, who kindly agreed. They had never talked much, but Hermione thought that he was handsome and quite nice. Also, she didn't feel too pressured to entertain him, because she had overheard him talking to Seamus about how he really wanted to go to the party. Satisfied by her choice, she felt much more relieved during the remaining days until the party.

Draco Malfoy, still annoyed about having to go to the party at all, had ended up asking - or telling, really - Pansy Parkinson to go with him. Of course, she had gushed ecstatically and said yes right away. Draco had chosen her because she didn't really require much effort. She followed his orders and his mere presence seemed to satisfy her, without him having to be a gentleman, listen to her, or even talk to her.

Finally, the day of Halloween arrived. Luckily for Slughorn, it had fallen on a Saturday this year, so his party could go on as long as he wanted it to. Hermione slept in for once and caught up on her homework for the weekend while she waited for the feast at seven o'clock. When she heard the unmistakeable sound of footsteps in the corridor outside of the Heads dormitory, she got up and went downstairs herself.

The Great Hall was adorned with live bats and floating jack-o-lanterns as usual. She smiled as she entered; she liked these decorations much better than the ones at Gladrags Wizardwear. Just after she had taken a seat across from Harry and Ginny, Neville sat down beside her, and Hermione greeted her friends merrily. Last Halloween, she had been on the run with Harry and Ron, desperately trying to find the Horcruxes. Even though she was a bit confused about her life and future at the present, she was so happy that the war was over and that they were able to lead normal lives again. Just as she thought this last thought, Professor Dumbledore clanked his fork on his glass and addressed them all jovially.

"Good evening students, and happy Halloween to all of you!" he said, his voice echoing across the silent Hall. "I trust that we will all have a splendid night, whether we are attending dear Professor Slughorn's festivities or have our own plans," he said, his eyes twinkling youthfully. Then, they suddenly fell on Hermione, and seemed to bore into her. "Before we tuck into our meal I would just like to remind you that Halloween is a holiday that allows you to let your imagination flow beyond the depths of the norm and the understood. Whilst schoolwork is always the top priority here at Hogwarts, it is okay to have a little fun, and even act a bit out of character, especially on a night like this."

Hermione felt herself redden. The Headmaster's gaze seemed to reach the depths of her soul. She wondered if she could be mistaken, if he could be looking at someone else. However, her Housemates and even some of the teachers were looking back and forth between herself and Professor Dumbledore. Abashed and confused, Hermione turned to look at her plate, and wondered what the old man had even meant. His voice sounded again, breaking her away from her thoughts.

"Dig in!" he said, and suddenly every dish in the place was piled high with food. Pushing the Headmaster's words to the back of her mind, Hermione began to load her plate with all of her favorite cuisine. After getting everything that she wanted and more, she let herself get lost in the food, conversation, and happy atmosphere.

By eight o'clock, Hermione was stuffed, and she knew she needed to start getting ready for the party. Pushing her plate away, she got up and said goodbye to her friends. She hurried back to the Heads dormitory, where she started up the stairs immediately. She grabbed her hair products, make-up, and costume from her room and went straight to work in the bathroom.

By half past eight, Hermione looked like a different person. She had covered all traces of stress and sleep deprivation on her face and made her eyes look very flattering. Her hair, which had been even bushier lately due to the weather, hung in tamed ringlets down her back. She washed her hands and brushed her teeth, then slipped on her angel costume. She looked in the mirror and smiled. For a fleeting moment, she felt like a princess, before she dismissed the silly notion and hurriedly began to clean her mess. After putting everything away, she sprayed herself with her favorite fragrance and headed out of the bathroom, down the stairs, and through the archway to meet Dean in the entrance hall.

Even though most people were already back in their common rooms, Hermione seemed to draw more eyes than she usually did when walking through the corridors. She blushed when a fifth year whistled at her, and ended up taking a secluded passageway down to the first floor. Dean was waiting for her by the time that she got there, and she appreciated his gentlemanly gesture of showing up a tad bit early. At first, it looked as if he wasn't dressed up, but as she neared him Hermione realized he was wearing a vampire costume.

When Dean saw her, Hermione noticed his eyes get a bit wider. "Wow, Hermione, you look great!" he said genuinely.

She smiled at him. "Thanks, Dean, so do you!" she returned his compliment sweetly.

"Well, I suppose we should start heading up there, the east wing is a bit of a far walk," he said, and to Hermione's surprise, he offered her his arm.

Beaming, she took it, and together they set off to the party.

**AN: Surprise! I bet you guys didn't think I'd update that quickly! But I bet you also thought that this chapter would have the party in it too. Sorry, haha, but that's coming up next :) I can't wait to write it! Thanks for reading, and please leave a review!**


End file.
